ZAGREB CITY ASSEMBLY ELECTS CITY AUTHORITIES

ZAGREB, June 18 (Hina) - Councillors of the Zagreb City Assembly at a Wednesday session chaired by Assembly president Zlatko Canjuga elected the presidents and members of assembly commissions and committees, as well as deputy mayors. Councillors of the ruling Croatian Democratic Union Party (HDZ) were elected presidents of three Zagreb City Assembly commissions. The HDZ also got six leading seats at nine assembly committees, while councillors of the Croatian Social Liberal Party (HSLS), the Croatian Peasant Party and the Social Democratic Party got one seat each. Dorica Nikolic of the HSLS and Miljenko Cvjetak of the HDZ were elected deputy mayors of Zagreb. At the proposal of Zagreb mayor Marina Matulovic-Dropulic, also elected were members of the city authorities, mostly from the HDZ, one from the HSLS and several non-party persons. After the Zagreb City Assembly session, its president Canjuga and the newly elected Zagreb deputy mayor Nikolic held a press conference on the occasion of the signing of a letter of intent on cooperation between the city committees of the HDZ and the HSLS. Canjuga assessed it was an historic agreement which would make space for dialogue and open new dimensions in comprehending democracy. The letter of intent is to be followed by a cooperation agreement which would specify what in Zagreb belonged to which party and how these relations would develop in the future, Canjuga told reporters, adding that the HDZ was demonstrating it did not care for executive authority alone, but for democratic cooperation with similar-programme parties as well. "This isn't a coalition with the HDZ, but the participation of HSLS councillors in the election of executive authority, in line with the 18 percent won for the mandate at the City Assembly", Nikolic pointed out. Speaking about the course of events, Nikolic said that in the morning she got the approval of HSLS president Vlado Gotovac to sign the letter of intent by which liberals got two seats in the city's executive authority. However, she proceeded, Gotovac later said he had not understood exactly what the letter was actually about, so he demanded that the signature be withdrawn from the letter, which was no longer possible. In the afternoon, Gotovac forwarded to the media a letter which he today sent to Zagreb City Assembly president Canjuga, In the letter, Gotovac, "as president of the HSLS informs (Canjuga) that he does not consent to any document (letters of intent, cooperation agreements and so forth) which has been concluded or should be concluded between the HSLS and the HDZ concerning the division of executive authority in the City of Zagreb." (hina) ha jn 182037 MET jun 97